Von
Hope ''(Von)'' ' '(Winter…summer…coalesce) /'repeats throughout/ ''(Vetur…sumar…samanrenna) '''Where things grow, there is hope. All that heals restores hope.'' Þar sem gróir, þar er von. '' Allt sem græðir geymir von. From a frozen waterfall she emerges; of a cold sky slowly moving forward. Úr klakaböndum kemur hún fram';'' 'af köldum himni fikrar sig fram. '''The world is still. All is quiet. All is silent. Hope ignites. ''Veröld sýnist stillt. Allt er kyrrt. Allt er hljótt. Kviknar von.'' While everything advances, it wells up. Then, there’s hope. Meðan allt sækir fram, streymir fram verður til. Þá er von. She illuminates everything there is, and was and will be. ''Hún lýsir allt sem er, allt sem er og var og verður.' ''' She sweetly slumbers in the depths of the mountain hall. ''Hún sest í ljúfan dvala í '' djú''pi fjallasal. '' (Repeat Verse) The lava will be warm. ''Í hrauni verður hlý. The world will be warm.' ''Í heimi verður hlý. '''The lava will be warm. '' Í heimi verður hlý. '' ''----- As background music during the Ferris Wheel scene, the song speaks to Twelve’s inner conflict between his love for Lisa and his loyalty to Nine. I’ve seen literal translations, but songs, like poetry, are rarely literal in meaning. So, I did some research. The early symbolism is simple. Winter and Spring unite - Lisa meets Twelve. The boy’s world begins to change as he experiences first love and his singular loyalty to Nine is threatened. Lisa dislikes herself and lives in a loveless home. With Twelve, the girl feels alive again and so, despite her fears, stays with him and comes to assist Sphinx. In Iceland, the imagery of frozen waterfalls, cold skies and volcanic mountains is fitting. The word “dvala” means “hibernate.” Lisa, as a character, ''is the viewer/sleeper, hijacked into the mission of Sphinx, but later a willing accomplice. Death (the ultimate deep sleep) is always imminent, but the promise of something better (the lava will be warm) is deemed worth the risk. The song continues with the metaphor, "S''he sweetly slumbers in the depths of the mountain hall.” This is a clear allusion to Nordic mythology wherein everything is in flux, similar to Yin and Yang. Even the gods are not immune and often pay for what they gain with a corresponding loss. One sees the ZNT parallel even though the reference is brief and obscure except to those who know mythic symbolism, similar to what Det. Shibazaki brings to the investigation. '' The specific myth to which the line alludes is the “King in the Mountain,” in which a hero-god dwells in a remote place, unsuspected, until a traveler stumbles upon him. The iconic image can also denote “the redemption of a nation.” In the story, the hero-god asks, “Do the ravens still circle the mountain?” When the traveler answers, “Yes,” the hero-god replies, “Then it is not yet my time.” The traveler is chased away and eventually dies after revealing the king’s secret. Coincidence? I think not. Perhaps Lisa is the unsuspected hero(ine) in the mountain of ZNT. Perhaps Twelve is the traveler (he does ride a motorbike) and Nine is the messenger (he is raven-haired). Lisa abets and survives the implementation of Sphinx’s plan and with the help of Shibazaki (the historian), will remember that Nine, Twelve and the other children of The Settlement lived. And in so doing, the nation is redeemed. Category:Music